Former names Palasport Broke ground 1967 Opened 1968 | Surface Parquet Capacity 3,500 | |
Full name Palazzo dello Sport "Giulio Bigi" Address Via Guasco, 42121 Reggio Emilia RE, Italy Similar Land Rover Arena, Palasport Del Mauro, Palasport Taliercio, Palasport Roberta Serradimigni, Palasport Mario Radi | ||
Reggio emilia il palabigi dopo i primi lavori
PalaBigi (formerly known as Palasport) is an indoor arena located in Reggio Emilia, Italy. The capacity of the arena is 3,500 people and it was opened in 1968. It is home to Pallacanestro Reggiana basketball team and Volley Tricolore volleyball team. The arena is dedicated to the late "Assessore allo Sport" (the sport delegate of the Municipality) Giulio Bigi. It has a capacity of 3.450 seats reserved to local fans and a sector of 50 seats reserved to the away fans.
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History
The construction of the arena started during the late 1960s thanks to the efforts of municipal delegate Giulio Bigi, who wanted to build a big sports arena in the city due to the large interest in sports. La Torre volleyball and basketball teams were competing in the First Division, with the female volleyball section winning four consecutive National Championship between 1964 and 1968 in the small sports gym "GIL". PalaBigi was completed in December 1967, with the first competitive game held in 1968. The capacity was near to 5.000, due to the terraces conformation of the stands in the 1960s and in the 1970s, and it was only reduced to 3.000 because of the new laws introduced by the Italian Parliament. PalaBigi hosted the Italian basketball national team in 1999, where the Azzurri beat France, and the Italian national men's volleyball team the same year, where they beat Russia 3-2. The arena also hosted various concerts of Italian artists, like the local born Luciano Ligabue. In 2012 the capacity was taken to 3.500. In 2016 a plan of capacity upgrade to 4.600 was approved by the Municipality, with the aedile works starting in the summer. In the same year a public initiative, "La Nostra Storia nel PalaBigi" (Our History in PalaBigi), was started by a local young fan, who aimed to dedicate the sections of the arena to the great former players who marked the history of the arena and to create a museum of its sports history to preserve its identity despite the reconstruction. The initiative saw more than 300 people subscribing the popular petition addressing the Municipality of Reggio Emilia. [1]